


What to do with a panicking kit

by DokiDokiTodoroki



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Foster Kid Keith (Voltron), Head Injury, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Kit Keith, Learning how to be a kit, Lotor actually cares, Lotor is pissed, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, lotor is actually good, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:22:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27143087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DokiDokiTodoroki/pseuds/DokiDokiTodoroki
Summary: Keith and Lotor are captured. Keith is injured and makes a Galra noise which causes him to have a panic attack. When he was younger he was always punished for making ‘weird’ noises. Lotor wonders why the Blades haven't taught him things about his heritage yet as he comforts the distressed kit. Will Lotor be able to teach Keith how to be a kit? Well, hopefully. But he has a couple of people to yell at first.
Relationships: Keith & Lotor (Voltron), Keith/Lotor (Voltron)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 584





	What to do with a panicking kit

Keith ran through the galra base as quickly and quietly as he could. He knew that he had tipped off some of the sentries when he passed the entrance to the loading dock. He had heard them mobilizing when he passed and he heard their footsteps following behind him.

He knew that Regris was still in the side control panel working on disabling some of the systems so that the Blades could make it through their shields undetected. Keith had to make sure that the attention was kept on him so that Regris would have enough time to do what he had to. This was his ninth mission with the Blades and he was still nervous. 

Kolivan was a powerful leader and Keith was trying his best to prove himself useful. Since he had broken off from Voltron he was quite lonely. His newfound Galra heritage still worried him. When he had left Voltron Allura was still not happy about him. Keith was too terrified to know how the others felt, which is why he needed to keep a safe distance. He spent too much of his childhood being in trouble for being different. He didn’t need that life in space as well. 

Keith heard the footsteps getting closer. Shit. He was going to have to find somewhere to hide for a short while. Keith kept running as fast as he could further and further away from Regris. He saw an alcove up above and thought that to be an adequate area to duck off and to let the sentries pass him. Keith silently went to the alcove and hid, but it didn’t provide as much cover as he thought it would. 

He heard the sentries getting closer. He needed to think fast. He then saw the galra hand reader next to a door in the alcove. There was nothing special about the door. He was next to the loading dock, so he was pretty sure it must’ve been some form of closet. He had no time to think, he placed his hand on the palm reader and the door swung open. It looked like it was a hallway with a door at the other side. 

Good, there was no one there. Keith placed his ear to the door and heard the footsteps of the sentries as they walked past. He was safe. Keith looked the door over to see how to open it to get back out to where he needed to be. There wasn’t a palm reader though and it appeared that the door only opened from the opposite side. Shit. 

Keith started to panic, he needed to get out of here and get to the loading dock for extraction. He slowly made his way over to the other door. He placed his hand on the palm reader and prepared himself for whatever was on the other side. When the door opened it revealed Sendak and his men waiting for him. 

“We’ve been looking for you.” Sendak growled as he smiled. 

Keith sprung into action, but so did Sendak’s men. Keith was trying his best, but he was no match for seven against one. Just as he reached to strike the galra next to him, someone struck the back of his head with a blaster. 

Keith was knocked over face first in front of Sendak’s boots. His vision was hazy and starting to turn dark. Sendak chuckled, “This will make the perfect present for Emperor Zarkon.” 

And then everything went dark.  
  


When Keith woke up he found that his head was killing him. He was still in his Marmora suit and he was laying on the cold metal floor of what appeared to be a prison judging by the heavy metal door. 

His breath started to pick up as he tried to get a hold of his bearings. His head was spinning and lying on the cold floor was making things worse. 

“It’s about time you returned to consciousness.” Keith jumped when heard the voice come from the corner behind him. 

Keith strained his neck to try to see who it was. “Lotor!” He shouted and moved to get up. Both of which he regretted. He laid back down on his side with a hand gripping his head as he hissed in pain. 

“It seems that you have quite the nasty head injury.” Lotor mused as he remained in his corner. 

“Tell me about it.” Keith mused. He couldn’t stay laying on the ground because he didn’t want to appear to be vulnerable in front of Lotor. He slowly moved to a sitting position. Everything around him was moving and his vision was blurry from the pain in his head. Great, he probably had a concussion. He's had those before and he knew how fun they were. 

Keith begrudgingly made his way over to the opposite corner from Lotor and sat against the wall. He used the cold metal wall as a support while he sat up and leaned a bit to the side to rest on the adjoining wall. His head hurt way too bad for him to care how he looked. 

“So, the Blade of Marmora? I was not under the impression that you would leave Voltron.” Lotor said as he stared at Keith. 

“That’s none of your business.” Keith bit back. Some time went on before Keith asked, “How long have I been here?”

“I have no measurement of time within this confined area, though it appears that you were unconscious for two meal breaks. I have no way of knowing what that equates to.” Lotor answered, looking bored. 

It was quiet between the two of them and the pain was getting worse. Keith was trying to focus on anything that wasn’t his head. He finally broke down and asked, “Why and how were you captured?”

Lotor chuckled, “I suppose I should play your game of withholding information. However, I do realize that making enemies while imprisoned in a small cell will not bode well for me.” Lotor smiled and Keith huffed. “Well it appears tiny paladin that I have joined your side of the fight against my overbearing father and have been working closely with Voltron.”

“You liar!” Keith yelled and regretted it. He saw stars behind his eyes. 

“What need have I to lie? I am already imprisoned, am I not?” Lotor asked while gesturing to the metal walls around him. “Voltron and I composed a plan to infiltrate this specific base. This base is vital to my father’s fleet as it holds the communication satellite for his troops within the Haktex nebula. I am assuming that this was also the motivation behind the Blade of Marmora’s infiltration as well?” Lotor asked. 

Keith just stared at him, refraining from giving away vital Blades information. Also, he was finding the pain in his head getting worse. It was quiet within the cell again and Lotor appeared to be staring at him with predator eyes. Keith was trying just to get his vision to focus on something. 

Then Keith did the worst thing he could possibly do. Without realizing it he subconsciously let out a whine from the back of his throat. As soon as it came out he froze. 

No. Not here. Not now.

He looked up at Lotor and he saw Lotor was staring at him with his eyes wide. 

Keith started to breathe heavily. The pain in his head was making him nauseous. The anxiety inside him was bubbling as he thought more about what he had done. It was getting harder and harder to take in breaths. He wasn’t supposed to make those sounds, and Lotor heard him, and he couldn’t defend himself right now. 

_Bad, bad, bad boy. Demon child. How dare you make those noises. Demon child. Bad. Lock him away. Hit him. Demon child. Bad boy._

“You…..you are….a kit?” Lotor breathed out, his eyes still wide. Keith stared at him in fear. What was Lotor going to do to him? He made the bad sounds. Keith kept worrying, panic building, looking at Lotor through his blurred pained vision, waiting for a reaction.

Lotor’s face then grew dark and Keith panicked.  
  


Lotor knew that getting caught was not a part of the plan nor deal that he had with Voltron. They had not specifically discussed what would happen should he get captured, but he was fairly certain that the proper call was not to leave him behind. He was stewing in his own thoughts when he heard the door to his cell start to open. 

His body tightened in anticipation for a fight, but he made sure to make his appearance appear to be lax. The guard that opened the door produced what appeared to be a small person and threw them into the cell before shutting the door. 

The person that was thrown onto the harsh metal floor did not make a sound, which was not a good sign. He waited until he heard that the guard had walked away from the door before he approached the figure. He was shocked to find that it was in fact the small red paladin. From what he remembered from his reconnaissance the tiny paladin went by the name Keith. Judging by the outfit and the fact that he had not seen him in Voltron’s castle, it would appear that the small paladin had joined the rogue Blade of Marmora group. 

Most interesting. That would mean that the paladin would actually have a bit of galra blood in him. Though, he appeared to be similar to the others in Voltron that came from Terra. He still had rather pale furless skin and he was the tiniest galra he had ever seen. 

Two meals had passed before the little spitfire actually regained consciousness. Lotor stifled the small amount of joy that he had seeing Keith wake up. He was not concerned about him. At least that is what he told himself. 

It appeared that his joy was a bit premature. Keith was not faring well since he awoke. His complexion was almost ashen and his eyes were out of focus. He had asked a couple of questions, which Lotor answered, but he appeared to be in a great deal of pain. 

Then something happened that Lotor would not have predicted. Keith gave off a whine. When Lotor heard it, it shot through him and he froze, eyes wide in shock. That was no ordinary whine. That was the pained and distressed whine of….of….

“You…..you are….a kit?” Lotor asked in disbelief. How was this possible? The paladin appeared to have been grown? But he was in the Blade of Marmora…?

Lotor grew angry. How could the Blade of Marmora allow a kit to fight in their ranks?! How could they not recognize that the boy was indeed a kit?! It had taken Lotor less than 30 dobashes to realize that he was a kit. 

Lotor continued to grow angrier. Kits were sacred to Galra. They were so rare now that the war was still taking place. Galra treasured kits, no matter who they were. A kit’s whine could stop even the cruelest of Galra. They were to be protected at all costs. The Blades were no exception, yet they let a kit go into battle?

Lotor’s thoughts were disrupted when a sharp whine cut through the air. 

Keith appeared to be shaking. He had tears in his eyes and his hands over his mouth. He was breathing fast through his nose, staring at the ground. With each whine that emerged more tremors appeared to rock through his body. With each whine, the hands clamped over his mouth became more desperate to keep those whines into his body. 

The waves of distress were coming off the kit as he continued to panic. Lotor moved to spring into action, which appeared to be the wrong move as Keith flinched and shot back as far against the wall as he possibly could, eyes wide staring at Lotor. 

“Keith, it is alright, I apologize if my reaction upset you.” Lotor tried but it seemed to fall flat. 

Keith was still having trouble breathing, he was trying with all his might to keep the sounds in, but the more distressed he got, the louder his whines became. His breath was labored and having his hands over his mouth was doing nothing to aid his breathing. 

Lotor recognized that the tiny paladin seemed to be having some sort of panic attack. The whines grew even more distressed. Keith had tears running down his face, over his clamped hands that were doing their best to shut him up. Tremors were rocking through his body with each whine. Lotor needed to do something. 

Lotor moved closer and attempted to talk with him again. “Keith, it is alright. You do not have to quiet yourself. You really are just a kit.” Being comforting was not Lotor’s repertoire. 

The whines continued as Keith started to choke behind his hands. 

Lotor moved a bit closer. He reached back into the depths of his mind to try to recall his Galra instincts of dealing with kits. His parents were not the best role models, but his father, being Galra, still had a weakness for kit Lotor that his Altean mother did not also possess. 

Lotor knew that touch and nonverbal cues were his best bet in getting Keith to calm down a bit. Lotor began to rumble, the foregin sound tickling his chest. Keith froze. The sound of the rumbling got through to him. Keith, most likely without knowing, tilted his head a bit to offer Lotor the space behind his ear. 

Lotor didn’t move, he continued his rumbling but he was unsure if he should proceed. His next move was to initiate contact, but he was unaware of how receptive the paladin would be towards that. Then Keith started trembling again as a desperate whine came from him. This whine was more reserved for kits that were seeking comfort. Lotor didn’t really know if Keith understood the noises that he was making. He was still crying and attempting to stop himself from making noises. Lotor decided that he needed to initiate contact. The stress of crying and hyperventilating was no doubt worsening Keith’s head injury. 

Lotor leaned forward to reach for the spot behind Keith’s ear and Keith flinched, as if he was expecting to be hit. Lotor’s face softened. “No, little love, my intention is not to hurt you. I am trying to help you if you would let me.” Lotor said in a calm quiet voice and followed with another rumble. 

Although Keith was cowering Lotor could see that he was subconsciously craning his neck a bit towards Lotor. “Keith, listen to me. We need to calm you down, you have too serious of a head wound. I know how to make things better. You have to trust me, kit.” Lotor saw that Keith’s whines were still there but calming down. His breathing was still accelerated, but not as erratic as before. The rumbling must have been having an effect on them. 

“I am going to touch you now Keith. I am going to rub behind your ear. I will explain why later.” Lotor informed while he slowly moved towards Keith. Lotor saw Keith tense as his hand got close. “I will not hurt you, little love.” Lotor assured. 

When Lotor massaged the small scent gland behind Keith’s ear the effects were almost instantaneous. It seemed that all the tension seemed to leave Keith’s body. His desperate whines still present every so often, but not as frequent as Lotor continued to massage that spot. Keith was melting into the touch and started to fall over. 

He gave a shocked whine when he fell forward but Lotor caught him. “Shh, I’ve got you kit. It is alright Keith.” Lotor said. 

He picked up the too light kit and moved him to sit on his lap. He could tell that the head wound must have really knocked the senses out of him because instead of fighting Lotor’s hold Keith melted into it, still nuzzling at Lotor’s comforting hand. 

They sat there for a bit while Keith continued to calm down on Lotor’s lap. His breathing had subsided and he was making tired purring noises. Lotor smiled. Good, those were the noises that a content kit should be making. He could tell that Keith was drifting off to sleep on his lap. Lotor continued to rumble and massage behind Keith’s ear as Keith fell asleep.  
  


When Keith came to he was very much aware that he was enveloped in something warm. He felt the arms around him and he started to panic a bit. His worries were interrupted by the throbbing of his head. He felt as if all the energy had been drained out of him as he saw stars behind the lids of his eyes. He let out a whine in reaction to the pain that he was feeling. Then the strong chest he was leaning against let out a comforting rumble, which eased Keith’s mind. 

“Calm now, kit. It is alright.” Lotor said as he moved to massage behind Keith’s ear again. Keith had slept for a little over a varga. 

“L-Lotor?” Keith asked in a bit of quiet disbelief. He did not move to get off of the comfortable lap though. 

“Yes, it is I.” Lotor chuckled a bit. “How are you feeling?” Lotor asked, still unused to the kindness that he was giving. 

“Hurts….D-don’t fe’l good…” Keith said with a groan. 

“That is to be expected with such a grievous head wound.” Lotor clipped. 

“I-I’m sorry…” Keith said into Lotor’s chest as he hid. Lotor arched an eyebrow, but Keith was unable to see it. 

“What could you possibly be sorry for?” Lotor asked perplexed. 

“Noises….made bad n-noises…” Keith mumbled, though it was apparent that he was drifting off a bit. 

“I had an inclination that was what the panicking was about. Are you not aware that those noises are perfectly acceptable for Galra kits such as yourself?” Lotor was confused. 

It appeared Keith was confused as well as he gave a brief “kit?”

“Yes, kit. While your lineage may be mixed it is quite obvious that you are still considered a kit, or youngling, in Galra terms. This means that you have not reached full maturity. This was confirmed when my rubbing at the back of your ear calmed you down. It is a comforting mechanism that Galra use to calm their kits.” 

Keith was still a bit lost to the world due to his head injury and still had no problem seeking comfort from Lotor. Lotor was surprisingly still eager to provide it. 

“Keith, the whines that you were emitting. Were those the sounds that you referred to as ‘bad noises’?” Lotor asked, a rock forming in his stomach in anticipation of an answer. 

Keith gave a small grunt in affirmation. “Who in Haktex told you that those instinctual noises were bad?” Lotor couldn’t believe that anyone who heard the whining sound of a kit would not be moved to spring into action to help. 

“F’ster parents….said was d-demon child….hit me...l-locked me away…” Keith admitted with a whine of distress. He tensed up after omitting it but Lotor resumed massaging behind the kit's ear, and instantly Keith calmed. 

Lotor noticed that Keith was in fact crying softly. “Oh, little love, it is alright. Those imbeciles were wrong. There is nothing wrong with you. You are just a scared and lonely kit.” Lotor reassured. 

Had the Blades not gone over anything of the kit’s new heritage? Lotor was still bothered by the fact that no one had noticed how young Keith truly was. When they got out of this cell, Lotor had a good deal of unkind words for the Blades and for the other paladins. If he ever found the cretins that beat the kit while he was distressed he would disembowel them slowly. 

Lotor drifted off in thought as he felt Keith’s small breaths against his chest as he drifted off to sleep again. 

Hopefully someone would free them soon. 


End file.
